elevation

The elevation is the absolute vertical position of the observed location (z-coordinate).
If depth is given or not will not impact the 3-dimensional position.
For example a location 100m below the surface of a lake in 2000m altitude has a depth of 100 and
an elevation of 1900.

If minimum and maximum values are given the elevation is calculated using the equation:
(minimumElevationInMeters + maximumElevationInMeters) / 2.
For consistency and ease of use GBIF decided to always use a value in meters plus it's accurracy instead of
min/max values which are sometimes used in Darwin Core. See also depth & distanceAboveSurface.

depth

Complimentary and relative to elevation, depth indicates the distance to the earth surface, whether that is water
or ground.
For example a location 100m below the surface of a lake in 2000m altitude has a depth of 100 and
an elevation of 1900.

The depth is calculated using the equation: (minimumDepthInMeters + maximumDepthInMeters) / 2.
For consistency and ease of use GBIF decided to always use a value in meters plus it's accurracy instead of
min/max values which are sometimes used in Darwin Core. See also elevation & distanceAboveSurface.

taxonKey

The best matching, accepted GBIF backbone name usage representing this occurrence.
In case the verbatim scientific name and its classification can only be matched to a higher rank this will
represent the lowest matching rank. In the worst case this could just be for example Animalia.

In contrast dwc:taxonID is only used for the source ids similar to occurrenceID

subgenusKey

speciesKey

The backbone key to the accepted species.
In case the taxonKey is of a higher rank than species (e.g. genus) speciesKey is null.
In case taxonKey represents an infraspecific taxon the speciesKey points to the species
the infraspecies is classified as. In case of taxonKey being a species the speciesKey is the same.

canonicalName

nameType

genericName

If the scientific name is considered to be a synonym dwc:genus refers to the accepted genus, not to the
genus part of the synonym. This genericName always holds the genus part of the name no matter its classification
or taxonomic status.
Term proposed in Darwin Core, but not yet ratified.

valueOf

Returns the enum constant of this type with the specified name.
The string must match exactly an identifier used to declare an
enum constant in this type. (Extraneous whitespace characters are
not permitted.)